Dine My Way & all new Dining questions since cruising restart!!

[Steelers36]

9 hours ago, jmr3201 said:

Can anyone verify that you can purchase the Princess Plus package upon boarding the ship?  Do they offer any specials to get you sign up for it?

You could say there is a special of sorts.  You receive a $10 credit OBC - the full cost of Medallion shipping.  Bonus - you both get the $10 OBC if a couple travelling in same cabin.

[Guest Cruisenewbie20181]

Just off the Caribbean Princess 10/31-11/5. I know food is subjective from person to person. Our experience was that food was terrible in mdr and buffet. We would recommend pizza at Slice. Also recommend Planks and Sabatinis. On the positive side you won’t gain any weight eating on the CP.

[juicyjuju]

I"m new to Princess. I'm taking a four night cruise on the Discovery Princess later this month. After doing some research I want to upgrade from plus to premier and dine in the specialty restaurants at night. The only online reservations are for Sabbatinis. What is the chances that I would be able to get a reservation on board for The Cactch and the Crown Grill?

Edited November 13, 2023 by juicyjuju

[Steelers36]

15 hours ago, juicyjuju said:

I"m new to Princess. I'm taking a four night cruise on the Discovery Princess later this month. After doing some research I want to upgrade from plus to premier and dine in the specialty restaurants at night. The only online reservations are for Sabatinis. What is the chances that I would be able to get a reservation on board for The Catch and the Crown Grill?

According to most reports, pretty good chance.  Either visit the restaurant soon after boarding or call the dining reservation line.

[rbrad3]

my experience they book up very early  and  zero chance on certain discovery cruises since the food in mdr is getting blah they need morre specality s

 

[jmr3201]

Is the upgrade to plus package worth it? Does the wifi allow streaming if no good movies on tv? I'm traveling in my own cabin so would I be able to order 2 drinks at same time to let you dad have 1 or 2 beers a day? I know I won't be drinking 15  drinks a day

[Steelers36]

5 hours ago, jmr3201 said:

Is the upgrade to plus package worth it? Does the wifi allow streaming if no good movies on tv? I'm traveling in my own cabin so would I be able to order 2 drinks at same time to let you dad have 1 or 2 beers a day? I know I won't be drinking 15  drinks a day

Welcome to Cruise Critic.  I would say your first question doesn't belong in this thread.  Actually, none of them do.  Would have been better to ask in a new thread - something like New To Princess - Some Questions.

 

As for the Plus Cruise Fare option, there are opinions on both sides of that fence and it comes down to personal choice as to how you value the various components included in the package and how much you will use them.  Consider that Crew Appreciation is $16/day.  If you are going to be buying the Medallion Net internet package, that is $15/day.  That leaves $29/day for other things, but most people focus on the beverage package portion to see if the value is there based on how many and what type of drinks they have.

 

The new Starlink internet has restored good, reliable internet and you should be able to stream in most cases.  BTW, "Wifi" is just the wireless connection between your device and ship access points and there are plenty of those.  The Princess App runs on ship INTRAnet which is free and connections are good all over ship.

 

Most guests report on here being able to order at least two drinks at a time, but this is typically being done in context of a drink for each partner.  IDK if you might be questioned as a solo, but my sense is things are pretty loose and relaxed if ordering two beers, for example.

 

That said, if you read the terms & conditions, guests are not allowed to share drinks with anyone else.  If you are caught, they can cancel the beverage portion and you will get no refund.

 

And one other point as some folks do not realize it - the 15 drink limit applies to drinks with alcohol in them.  There is no limit for non-alcohol drinks.  Lots of guests report picking up a couple of bottles of water when passing bars in order to have a supply in the cabin or to take off ship in port.  Once again, though, you should not be grabbing these to give to someone else on the ship.

[memoak]

10 hours ago, jmr3201 said:

Is the upgrade to plus package worth it? Does the wifi allow streaming if no good movies on tv? I'm traveling in my own cabin so would I be able to order 2 drinks at same time to let you dad have 1 or 2 beers a day? I know I won't be drinking 15  drinks a day

There are tons of movies and tv shows available on tour television

[wvacations]

We just changed our booking from Island Princess August 5, 2024 to  Sun Princess  August 10, 2024. Before changing from the the Island, I was able to book My DIme Timing for the same time each night. Once I changed to the Sun Princess, I am not able to book any times either same time each day or individual nights. Is there some time frame for the larger ships in selecting dinning reservervations int he main dinning room? I have called Princess and the agent ws unable to make any bookings and just told me to make them closer to sailing or once on board. I'm concerned it is a promblem with my reservation and if I wait until on board, there will not be desirable times available.

 

Edited November 21, 2023 by wvacations

[lstone19]

It appears they do not have Sun Princess, a brand-new ship not yet in service, fully set up yet for dining reservations. Nothing as far as I know about it being a larger ship, just because it is a new ship.

[MissP22]

On 11/10/2023 at 9:26 AM, Cruisenewbie20181 said:

Just off the Caribbean Princess 10/31-11/5. I know food is subjective from person to person. Our experience was that food was terrible in mdr and buffet. We would recommend pizza at Slice. Also recommend Planks and Sabatinis. On the positive side you won’t gain any weight eating on the CP.

We found the same thing years ago on the CB and it's the main reason we won't sail on it any longer.

We also experienced terrible selections on the Ruby buffet last week & have added it to our list of banned ships. 

I guess you only get decent food if want to pay extra for it lately. The food in their Crown Grill wasn't all that great either.

 

 

On 11/15/2023 at 11:52 AM, memoak said:

There are tons of movies and tv shows available on tour television

Most of which are older than a year old. 

[lstone19]

1 hour ago, MissP22 said:

We found the same thing years ago on the CB and it's the main reason we won't sail on it any longer.

We also experienced terrible selections on the Ruby buffet last week & have added it to our list of banned ships. 

I guess you only get decent food if want to pay extra for it lately. The food in their Crown Grill wasn't all that great either.

 

I always find these comments interesting as they suppose that it is the ship, a collection of inanimate steel and other materials, that is making the decisions rather than the ship's company. A ship is only as good as  its leadership. With the right senior leadership, any ship can be great; with the wrong senior leadership, any ship can be bad.

 

We've been on four cruises on Regal Princess. The first two, less than five month apart, with the same captain and much of the same other hotel department leaders, were great. The last two, well after those first two, with the same different captain for both and almost entirely different hotel department leaders who were largely invisible, had noticeable issues even before we left the embarkation port. It is the leaders that determine if a cruise will be good or bad, not the ship itself.

[MissP22]

6 minutes ago, lstone19 said:

 

I always find these comments interesting as they suppose that it is the ship, a collection of inanimate steel and other materials, that is making the decisions rather than the ship's company. A ship is only as good as  its leadership. With the right senior leadership, any ship can be great; with the wrong senior leadership, any ship can be bad.

 

We've been on four cruises on Regal Princess. The first two, less than five month apart, with the same captain and much of the same other hotel department leaders, were great. The last two, well after those first two, with the same different captain for both and almost entirely different hotel department leaders who were largely invisible, had noticeable issues even before we left the embarkation port. It is the leaders that determine if a cruise will be good or bad, not the ship itself.

I do agree that part of your statement is true but all I know is that the problems associated with the Crown class ships I have never encountered on a Royal class ship. I believe that the turnover in crew is practically the same throughout the fleet, so why is it so noticeable on certain ships and not others? 

[lstone19]

8 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

I do agree that part of your statement is true but all I know is that the problems associated with the Crown class ships I have never encountered on a Royal class ship. I believe that the turnover in crew is practically the same throughout the fleet, so why is it so noticeable on certain ships and not others? 

 

Other factors are design. As you mentioned Ruby Princess and its buffet, its design is completely different from the Royal-class ships. It may not be able to support what you desire in a ship's buffet. But that's not specific to Ruby Princess so if you're going to ban Ruby Princess from your cruising, then you should do the same to the other ships with the same buffet design (and certainly the identical Crown Princess and Emerald Princess).

 

I strongly believe that senior leadership makes a huge difference. And that starts with the captain (who some people think is only there to navigate the ship). When senior leadership is keeping an eye on the operation, those below them notice and do a good job; likewise, when senior leadership is not watching, they realize they don't need to give 100%.

 

One of my worst cruises (one of those mentioned above on Regal Princess), the captain was invisible. Yes, we had some weather ahead that required his attention but several days away from the weather, he was apparently holed up in his cabin as if updates on the weather were coming every minute rather than every few hours. Meanwhile, he no-showed our Ultimate Ship's Tour and the Captain's Circle reception.

 

OTOH, one of my best cruises had very visible senior leadership. The captain was about and approachable. I saw the Hotel GM sitting in a bar one day just watching what was going on. Another day, I saw the DRO and the Executive Chef touring the buffet (I'm convinced that some DROs don't even know where the buffet is since they seem to be only interested in the MDRs and their ceremonial duties). The DRO was also visible in the MDRs almost every lunch and dinner (we ended up doing the Chef's Table because of him. He stopped by our shared dinner table to let another couple know that they didn't have enough people to do another Chef's Table night (hard to believe given how popular they usually are). Hearing that, we said we were interested and along with another couple from our table, they had their full table). So yes, put the right people in charge of a ship and an excellent time will be had.

[julie3fan]

I recall reading a post here several years ago of someone that did a B2B, and the executive chef changed over on turn around day.  They were shocked at how quickly the quality of the food changed one week to the next.

[MissP22]

41 minutes ago, lstone19 said:

 

Other factors are design. As you mentioned Ruby Princess and its buffet, its design is completely different from the Royal-class ships. It may not be able to support what you desire in a ship's buffet. But that's not specific to Ruby Princess so if you're going to ban Ruby Princess from your cruising, then you should do the same to the other ships with the same buffet design (and certainly the identical Crown Princess and Emerald Princess).

 

I strongly believe that senior leadership makes a huge difference. And that starts with the captain (who some people think is only there to navigate the ship). When senior leadership is keeping an eye on the operation, those below them notice and do a good job; likewise, when senior leadership is not watching, they realize they don't need to give 100%.

 

One of my worst cruises (one of those mentioned above on Regal Princess), the captain was invisible. Yes, we had some weather ahead that required his attention but several days away from the weather, he was apparently holed up in his cabin as if updates on the weather were coming every minute rather than every few hours. Meanwhile, he no-showed our Ultimate Ship's Tour and the Captain's Circle reception.

 

OTOH, one of my best cruises had very visible senior leadership. The captain was about and approachable. I saw the Hotel GM sitting in a bar one day just watching what was going on. Another day, I saw the DRO and the Executive Chef touring the buffet (I'm convinced that some DROs don't even know where the buffet is since they seem to be only interested in the MDRs and their ceremonial duties). The DRO was also visible in the MDRs almost every lunch and dinner (we ended up doing the Chef's Table because of him. He stopped by our shared dinner table to let another couple know that they didn't have enough people to do another Chef's Table night (hard to believe given how popular they usually are). Hearing that, we said we were interested and along with another couple from our table, they had their full table). So yes, put the right people in charge of a ship and an excellent time will be had.

I've pretty much excluded all the ships except for the Royal class ships as we've never been disappointed with they selections & prep. 

I'm assuming the new ships will follow in the footsteps of the Royal class ships.

[memoak]

8 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

I've pretty much excluded all the ships except for the Royal class ships as we've never been disappointed with they selections & prep. 

I'm assuming the new ships will follow in the footsteps of the Royal class ships.

And we are the opposite we sail mostly non Royal ships due to the crowded venues and ridiculously noisy piazza on the large ships

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, lstone19 said:

I strongly believe that senior leadership makes a huge difference.

Most certainly.  They can tell the crew to get their ship together.

[memoak]

5 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Most certainly.  They can tell the crew to get their ship together.

Totally agree. There are certain ship captains we try to avoid and others we love to sail with 

[MissP22]

20 minutes ago, memoak said:

And we are the opposite we sail mostly non Royal ships due to the crowded venues and ridiculously noisy piazza on the large ships

I don't find it to be more crowded in the venues we attend but it's definitely more noisy in the Piazza, so we migrate elsewhere when it gets to bad. 

[chamima]

2 hours ago, lstone19 said:

 

I always find these comments interesting as they suppose that it is the ship, a collection of inanimate steel and other materials, that is making the decisions rather than the ship's company. A ship is only as good as  its leadership. With the right senior leadership, any ship can be great; with the wrong senior leadership, any ship can be bad.

 

We've been on four cruises on Regal Princess. The first two, less than five month apart, with the same captain and much of the same other hotel department leaders, were great. The last two, well after those first two, with the same different captain for both and almost entirely different hotel department leaders who were largely invisible, had noticeable issues even before we left the embarkation port. It is the leaders that determine if a cruise will be good or bad, not the ship itself.

 

I think a lot of these comments are also just personal experience.

We are currently on the Sapphire and loving it. I'm thinking she's my favorite Princess ship right now. I find the crew (including the captain) to be engaging, the entertainment (other than the kind of weak main theater shows) to be plentiful , varying and talented all around the various venues on the ship. The food isn't gourmet but a least the kitchen is using a little spice this time.

I also LOVE the full promenade deck and all of the nooks and crannies and spaces around the ship to sit and have some quiet, relaxing time away from crowds.

However, yesterday on the tender back to the ship we sat next to a very friendly gentleman who said he'd never sail on the Sapphire again. He didn't have one nice thing to say about anything on the ship.He didn't seem to be just a grump who wouldn't like anything so, as I said, I guess everything is subjective.

Edited November 23, 2023 by chamima

[juicyjuju]

How does the sushi restaurant on Discovery work? Do you need a reservation? Is it a la carte pricing?

[Steelers36]

15 minutes ago, juicyjuju said:

How does the sushi restaurant on Discovery work? Do you need a reservation? Is it a la carte pricing?

No res there.  Both prix fixe option and a la carte.

[Thrak]

We just did 63 days on Grand Princess and only had a prix fixe meal one time. We ate in Alfredo's and it was entirely too much food. We were each served the appetizer and our own pizza and they seemed unhappy when didn't finish the pizzas and left without having dessert. We would much rather simply share one pizza. Alfredo's was most often a wasteland of empty space. We saw people enquire at the entrance and, when they were told the cost for a pizza, they usually walked away. We were encouraged to have the offering in Vines but, again, we simply don't want that much food.

[suzyed]

7 minutes ago, Thrak said:

We just did 63 days on Grand Princess and only had a prix fixe meal one time. We ate in Alfredo's and it was entirely too much food. We were each served the appetizer and our own pizza and they seemed unhappy when didn't finish the pizzas and left without having dessert. We would much rather simply share one pizza. Alfredo's was most often a wasteland of empty space. We saw people enquire at the entrance and, when they were told the cost for a pizza, they usually walked away. We were encouraged to have the offering in Vines but, again, we simply don't want that much food.

Same experience the last time we sailed.  The most amount of table occupied at any given time was 6. This whole prix fixe for a fee scheme is nonsense.